


Lunacy

by shiftylinguini



Series: Blame it on the Moon [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Accidental Bonding, Alpha Teddy, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Background Ginny Weasley/Oliver Wood, Congenital Werewolf Teddy, Established Relationship, Harry Potter Next Generation, Healer Teddy, Knotting, M/M, Mentions of Contraceptives, Mentions of Mild Gore, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Omega James, Scar Sensitivity, Scenting, Unexpected Heat, Werewolf James, background Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy, but no actual mpreg, mentions of mpreg, smell kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-17
Updated: 2016-06-17
Packaged: 2018-07-11 19:33:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7067200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiftylinguini/pseuds/shiftylinguini
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Teddy was born a werewolf. James gets bitten later in life (not by Teddy) and Teddy is there to help him through his first heat.<br/> <br/><i>Excerpt:</i></p><p>Fortunately, five years of dealing with monthly involuntary transformations into an essentially wild animal had equipped James with a profound sense of pragmatism and matter-of-factness in the face of most things that life could throw at him. <i>Un</i>fortunately, his current condition was completely outside of that realm. Between the headache, the nausea, the throbbing scar and the burgeoning erection—well, he was starting to feel a bit panicky. And completely useless.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lunacy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [leontina (Leontina)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leontina/gifts).



The average werewolf heat can last for twelve to forty-eight hours, occurs annually and is exclusive to omega lycanthropes. It is described as being a combination of having one’s internal organs put in a blender and being emotionally hung, drawn and quartered, while one’s libido takes the wheel with a hefty dose of steroids—all in the pursuit of finding a compatible mate, getting up the duff, and continuing the dwindling werewolf population. 

Of course, that’s not what the brochure which the helpful Healer’s Aide had pressed into James’s hands had actually _said_. But that was the overall gist he’d taken away from it, all the same. He hadn’t really been able to make head nor tail of the whole business, still too raw and overwhelmed and bleeding dully into his bandages at the time. Most of it went in one ear and right out the other; a few bits and pieces of information had been alarming enough for him to retain, but that was about it. 

He’d been a bit preoccupied with the whole _now a werewolf_ part, really. That bombshell had come just two days beforehand, after he’d regained consciousness, and had still been slowly settling in his mind as reality, like a marble making its way through honey. 

He only knew one werewolf, barring of course the one who had mistaken him for dinner. The one time he’d asked his godbrother what it was like when he was eleven, Teddy had just looked at him from under his purple fringe, told him mildly that it ‘sucked’, then smiled and changed the subject. There were very few things in life that Teddy didn’t want to talk about, so James had figured it had to be either pretty unpleasant, or hugely embarrassing. Like the time James’d seen him kissing Victoire (gross), or later on kissing Stefan, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain (strangely _not_ gross). 

He hadn’t brought it up again after that, like he hadn’t brought up those other things, but he had quickly discovered for himself that Teddy’s simple ‘ _it sucks_ ’ was the understatement of the century. 

James hadn’t counted on getting bitten, but after the fact, he had pretty much assumed that would be the shittiest part of this whole ordeal. The nights in hospital, weighed down by the stupid, aching meat of his left arm, which was healing itself at an alarmingly rapid rate, listening to snatched pieces of the whispered conversations around him, when they thought he was too full of healing potions to hear. All _poor James, he’s only 16_ and _this is all my fault, I shouldn’t have let him_ and _no, this is all **your** fault, **you** should have been there_ and _maybe he won’t turn, maybe not this time—I mean, look at Bill, there’s precedent. Some literature even talks about dormancy in werewolves. It’s a slim possibility, but—_

That last one was his aunt, smartest witch in a century, but really dumb about the people she loved. Because there was never a snowball’s chance in hell he wasn’t going to turn. It took one look at his shredded shoulder, the gouge marks on his back, the ugly, _ugly_ teeth marks lined up in neat rows across his left side to figure that one out. But James appreciated the thought, nonetheless. Almost as much as he appreciated the cocktail of painkilling potions swimming in his system, preventing him from having to participate in these conversations. Or having to admit how terrified he was of what would inevitably happen now at the turn of the moon. 

And, sure enough, next full moon James was buckled over in the magically warded and sealed-off makeshift shed round the back of his dad’s place ( _The Dog House_ , as he and Albus called it, out of earshot of their dad and Mr Malfoy of course). No, he’d realised that night that he’d been way off the mark, thinking being werewolf chow was the worst part. That was just the beginning, the appetiser. 

Because transforming was—well, there weren’t really words for it. None that James had ever found. Pain, and fear, and shock, as his body tore itself up and then there he was, licking a hot tongue over grey fur. And then _blank_ , for hours. The blackouts were a side effect of the severity of his attack, apparently only somewhat appeased by the Advanced Wolfsbane he took. He never had any recollection of what he got up to as the wolf. Then the whole process would happen again, like a bad rewind. Bones cracking and tendons tearing as he’d be stuffed back into boy form, wobbling on two feet and sore from his toenails to his teeth. 

It fucking hurt, and everything always tasted like metal for hours afterwards. He ached like an eighty year old the whole week of the full moon, and bitched like one too. It was just something he’d had to learn to accept, and at nearly twenty one he was something of a pro at accepting the shitty inevitable. Every full moon, for the past five years—wax, wane, full. Lather, rinse, repeat. The wolf was nothing if not punctual, and James was nothing if not resigned to it. 

Suffice to say that, in amongst those things, he hadn’t really had a lot of room left to think about other potential side effects of the bite. Specifically, the ways it might affect his reproductive system, now magically altered along with the rest of his biology. Well, potentially altered—there were three ways it could go for wizards post-werewolf bite. And as he’d never shown any signs of being an alpha or omega since his attack (no heats, no ruts, no nothing), he’d figured that he’d been stood up by that whole quirk of lycanthropy. He’d struck off ‘beta’ on his werewolf bingo card and got on with being an average, run of the mill human being, who, for one night of the month, was decidedly not-human. And who spent the rest of his time working in a bar in Hogsmeade, where the hours suited his, well, _limited availability_ throughout certain phases of the moon. James would probably take his step-dad Oliver Wood up on his recurring offer of that Assistant Quidditch Coach role sooner or later, but not just yet; he really didn’t want to deal with the publicity fallout when Harry Potter’s gay werewolf son started working with young people. 

Truth be told, he’d actually been pretty pleased about being a boring old beta and that nothing had changed in the old downstairs department. Bad enough he’d lost a lump of his humanity and gained a whole bunch of wolf in its stead, or that he had to put up with the beast showing its furry face once a month. As far as he was concerned the little bastard could stay right out of the rest of his life too—especially his sex life.

The fact that Teddy was an alpha had little to no bearing on their relationship, now in its fourth month and learning to stand on its own. Well, beyond the fact that it meant he was hung like a fucking horntail and had the stamina of one as well, which was hardly a _downside_ as far as James was concerned. Although, Teddy himself had briefly tried to make it one; it had taken no small amount of reassurance, then persuasion, then outright begging before he’d finally fucked James properly, convinced he was going to hurt him somehow. James had been more than happy to relieve him of that misplaced notion. From anyone else, that kind of overprotectiveness would have driven him up the wall, but James kind of liked it coming from Teddy, and secretly always had. Not that Teddy needed to know that. And even though Teddy _was_ big, James was hardly made of china; chivalry was all well and good, but so was getting bent over the back of Teddy’s threadbare couch and fucked ’til he saw stars—which Teddy was thankfully on board with now. 

The knot at the base of Teddy’s dick, which had formed twice so far during some particularly enthusiastic sex, had not been an issue. Teddy seemed adamant that any action in that department was pretty fucking great; the one time James had put his mouth on it, run his tongue around the swollen base, Teddy had come so hard and so loudly they’d woken the neighbours. He seemed nervous about the practicalities of trying to fuck James with it though—omegas in heat were built for knotting, not beta’s, and Teddy was perplexed about why it had even happened at all, although he wasn’t complaining. But James had to admit he was curious and getting that inside him, no matter how much prep it might take, was near the top of his fucking-Teddy bucket list. 

And that was as much as James knew or bothered to understand of the quirks of werewolf sex. It’d served him well enough for the past five years since he’d been bitten. 

But now, sitting on the floor of the loo of _The Golden Gryphon_ , separated from his own twenty-first birthday celebrations by the toilet door and an increasing inability to walk upright without buckling over in pain, James was really starting to wish he’d paid a little more attention to that long ago lesson in werewolf physiology and reproductive traits. Maybe taken a look at some of the info that the inappropriately cheerful Medi-orderly had given him, or skimmed the books and articles on werewolf mating and heat cycles lying around the therapist’s office (maybe ‘ _Your Lycanthro-body and You_ ’ or ‘ _Merlin, What’s All This Down Here Then?: An Omega’s Story’_ ). But it had all either bored or frightened the living daylights out of him, so he’d very maturely dealt with that by using a few leaflets to clean his broom and the rest as kindling.

At sixteen and recovering from the bite, it’d seemed like a brilliant plan. At twenty-one and hunched over a toilet shaped like an elaborate gryphon’s head, he was rethinking that policy. 

Because, as it turned out, James was significantly less _beta_ werewolf than he’d previously assumed, or than his apparently _omega_ body had ever bothered to indicate. It was making up for the delay in this grand announcement now though, because he was ninety percent sure he was going into heat. 

And one hundred percent sure he was completely fucked.

***

James heaved again and managed to hunch over the bowl in time to throw up _mostly_ in the toilet. Sterling effort, really. Worth at least fifteen points. He spat and fumbled for the cord, watching his dinner swirl away, then slumped back against the wall.

He wasn’t certain how long he’d been in here, but he hoped someone would miss him soon and come put him out of his misery. More likely though, he realised, was that everyone thought he was drunk somewhere, making the most of the open bar. He’d done it before. 

He groaned miserably and clutched his stomach as another jolt of pain hit him below the ribs, followed by another stubborn wave of nausea. He was covered in sweat and his shirt stuck to him like a clingy, damp rag. His side felt like it was on fire. The knobbled scar running from his left shoulder to his ribs was throbbing in time with his pulse, hot and tingling—sensitive in a way it had never been before. It always gave him hell before a full moon, but that was weeks away. And even then, it never felt like this. 

Right on cue, the nausea passed as a deeper, heavier, and extremely unsettling wave of arousal pushed up through him, stemming from the same location as the hideous bursts of pain. It lit up the scar tissue on his body like the most wonderful set of pins and needles he’d ever had. 

Those waves were coming more and more frequently now, and had made absolutely no sense at all—until he’d begun to entertain the unthinkable. 

James gritted his teeth and waited for it to pass. He knew that at least a few blissful minutes of feeling nothing would follow. _Those_ , however, were getting shorter and shorter, which was kind of alarming. He was starting to get seriously turned on, to the point he was beginning to have trouble thinking, the arousal fogging his brain in a sort of persistent haze. He felt a bit drunk with it—which wasn’t helped by the fact that he was also a bit genuinely drunk. 

Fortunately, five years of dealing with monthly involuntary transformations into an, essentially, wild animal, had equipped James with a profound sense of pragmatism and matter-of-factness in the face of most things that life could throw at him. _Un_ fortunately, his current condition was completely outside of that realm. Between the headache, the nausea, the throbbing scar and the burgeoning erection—well, he was starting to feel a bit panicky. And completely useless. 

The worst part was, he was also kind of… He grimaced. Well, _wet_. In places he shouldn’t be, and in a way that had nothing to do with the sweat drenching his overheated body. Wasn’t that just the weirdest sensation around. He tensed his thighs and tried not to squirm around on the tiles. It felt good, _really_ good, and also horribly embarrassing, and the twin spikes of shame and aching stimulation seemed to just make him harder. And wetter. 

That fun little fact was what had finally clued him in to this maybe not being a normal fever, and instead being another little present generously left on his doorstep by the joy of lycanthropy. Happy birthday James, indeed, he thought to himself bitterly.

He’d started feeling weird a few days earlier, but nothing he couldn't ignore. He was headachey and lethargic, had a fever and some abdominal cramps and a weirdly increased appetite. He’d even joked that he was pregnant ( _ha!_ ), helping himself to crisps from Teddy’s cupboard as Teddy’d taken his temperature with a flick of his wand. The irony was not lost on James now, but it was also not helping him in the slightest, so it could get fucked. Teddy’d just snorted a laugh and given him a potion to soothe his head, then some kind of atrocious granola bar to soothe his ravenous hunger, and apologised because _‘he didn’t have anything to soothe being a giant baby.’_ Some Healer he was. Bedside manner of a troll.

James had downed the lot and thought no more of it. He couldn’t reschedule the party—too much hassle and it was the only night his mum and Oliver were free for a month. That was the downside of having a mother and stepfather obsessed with Quidditch; getting free tickets was great, but the pair of them were always so bloody busy. So he’d steeled himself for feeling mildly unwell throughout the evening, given himself a pep talk in front of his mirror as he shaved, and given up on wearing a tie with his shirt. It was itchy and uncomfortable around his neck for some reason. 

He’d planned to have a big lie-in the next day as a reward. Eat tomato soup and cheese toasties, maybe watch old films at Teddy’s place while they nursed their hangovers. Being hungover at Teddy’s wasn’t new, but getting to curl around him and kiss him, slide a hand up his shirt like he’d wanted to for a while—that was still new. James couldn’t quite get enough of being allowed to put his hands on Teddy. Having him to himself for the rest of the weekend was a pretty good incentive for putting on a brave face and dragging his flu-y body out the door. 

Three hours and four pints into the party though, extended family and friends milling around him, James’d had to excuse himself to the loo. His body temperature felt like it was determined to rival that of the sun and he was finally willing to concede that he was maybe a little bit sicker than either of them had realised. In between bouts of throwing up and interminable pain between his hips, his scar had turned itself into a spontaneous erogenous zone and his dick had begun to fill out steadily in his shorts. He’d concluded that this was _probably_ not normal and that subsequently this almost definitely had something to do with the furry little fucker who invaded James’s life once a month. It all explained the fever that made his body twitch and, above all, which made him desperately want to soothe the ache in his gut by getting fucked. 

He definitely hadn’t felt like that last time he’d had the flu. 

He still hadn’t figured this out in time to do anything useful about it though. Like Apparate home, or signal Teddy to come to the rescue. 

He squirmed again and gasped. It felt so good, his vision swam and his body started screaming even more about the _getting fucked_ bit. He’d been desperate for sex before, pretty much summed up his late teens really, but nothing that compared to how much he wanted it now. He felt almost hollow and empty without it. He knew that was just the hormones, just the heat’s drive to mate, but Merlin's tits, it was intense. 

He thunked his head back against the wall and blinked at the ceiling in disbelief. His hair stuck unpleasantly to his forehead. At this rate he was going to spontaneously combust in a pub toilet, unless he managed to get home and into a vat of ice immediately. More likely though, he was going to crawl out of here and hump someone’s leg. Either option sounded about as painful and undignified as the other. 

“James?” 

Right on cue, the door banged open and Albus’s voice sailed into the room. “James, are you in here, you drunken tit? Uncle Bill and Charlie are doing _more_ speeches out front and Dad’s having kittens ‘cause we can’t find you. It’s hilarious, he’s totally sloshed...”

James’s stomach leapt in joy and then immediately plummeted in horror, as his brother continued to prattle at the unresponsive stalls. Because on the one hand _thank **Merlin**_ it was Al, best little brother in the world, here to save the day. But on the other hand—it was _Al_ , his _little brother_. He couldn’t let him see him like this, sweat drenched and glassy-eyed, vomit down his sleeve and cock tenting his trousers. He looked like a maniac. He _felt_ like a maniac. And Al probably had a camera, the devious shit. 

His brother walked closer to his stall, rapping his knuckles along the doors as he went. “Jamie?” His voice was getting quieter and less certain, like maybe he was going to leave. James figured his dignity was well and truly shot to pieces anyway, so he screwed up his courage and prepared to never hear the end of this from his sibling. 

“Hey, Al,” he choked out, then cringed at his own voice. Great, he also _sounded_ like a maniac. 

“Ah- _ha_!” Albus crowed triumphantly and walked towards the sound of James’s voice. “Knew you were hiding in here somewhere.” James flinched and swore as Al’s voice hit him; it seemed about a hundred decibels louder than usual and more grating than ever. “You don’t sound so hot though, you feeling ok? And…” James heard Al’s knees click as he bent down. He wiggled his fingers at James under the stall. “And are you on the floor?”

James tried to respond, but all that came out was a strangled, gurgling sound as his body rioted and he tried not to throw up again. There wasn’t really anything left in his stomach at this point, but it seemed determined to try anyway. 

“Ok, that doesn’t sound great.” His brother’s voice was tinged with concern. “I’m gonna go out on a limb and say maybe you’re not well?” James answered this with a dry heave, which turned into a cough and a breathy moan.

“Ew,” Al griped. “And _that_ does not sound like a noise I want to ever hear my brother make again.” He sighed. “So, clearly you’re not well. As always. Bloody attention-seeker.” His voice was fond, despite the words, and James almost smiled. He _was_ unwell a lot, but his little brother would be the last person to begrudge him that. 

Al clicked his tongue. “Well. This sounds like a job for your boyfriend and very definitely not me. Shall I go get Matron Lupin, sir?” 

James flinched slightly at Al’s words (he and Teddy hadn’t told anyone they were dating yet—his brother was far too perceptive for his own good), then cast the worry aside. That was the least of his concerns right now. He pushed himself up and gripped Al’s fingers, which were wiggling under the door again. He squeezed them, his own hand clammy, hoping he could communicate his fervent endorsement of this plan via osmosis. He didn’t really trust his voice at this point. 

Albus gripped them back firmly, then stood up. “Back in a jiffy. Don’t fall in the toilet.” And he was gone. 

James sagged against the door and his head swam in relief. And then it just swam. He realised he was beginning to feel properly dizzy; a combination of the alcohol and his insides apparently rearranging themselves. He _ached_.

But this was fine, he reassured himself. Al was getting Teddy. Al was a genius and a Slytherin, and made of gold, and he would get Teddy and he would get him here without a fuss or a scene and, above all, without alerting their parents. And no one would ever be any the wiser to the ridiculous things James’s ridiculous werewolf body was deciding to do in _The Golden Gryphon_ ’s ridiculous fucking bathroom. 

James’s head, dick and arse all throbbed in unison, a choir of need and pain and useless arousal, as he gripped his stomach and waited for help to arrive. 

Just a little bit longer, and Teddy would take care of it all.

***

It took seven minutes and thirty-seven seconds for Teddy to arrive.

James knows this because he counted, while staring at a crack in the ceiling and intermittently wanting to drown himself in the toilet and shove his hand down the back of his pants. Sometimes simultaneously. 

“James, you alright mate?” The sound of the booked-out bar, temporarily allowed in by the open door, faded back to nothing as Teddy clicked it shut and walked into the room, heading purposefully for his stall. James felt an overwhelming rush of relief at the sound of Teddy’s familiar deep voice—then realised that he was definitely, without doubt, one hundred per cent in heat. 

Because James could _smell_ him. 

Teddy always smelled good to James; he could probably pick him out of a crowd based on his cologne alone, or the shampoo he used, or probably even his bloody toothpaste. But those were all _things_ —external elements, on top of the underlying scent. A scent which James had never noticed before, because he’d never been able to pick it up. 

He was pretty sure now he wasn't going to be able to ever forget it. 

Right now, Teddy smelled—well right now he smelled like _heaven_. His scent enveloped him, warm and clean and strong and masculine. It reminded James, bizarrely, of butter on toast and crushed leaves, like hops and rain and—

And sex. 

Merlin, he smelled like sweat and skin, coarse hair and broad palms, and _sex_. To James’s heightened senses it was utterly overwhelming. His hips stuttered up against nothing, another pulse of wet leaking down the back of his thighs. 

The scent got stronger as Teddy’s footsteps got louder, each clip of his dress shoes bringing it closer to James. He felt hot all over—even his eyes felt hot, as he blinked moisture away from them. Sweat or tears, he couldn’t really tell at this point. He was so turned on he couldn’t think. He shut his eyes, back tense and shoulders against the wall, and pressed his palms into the cold floor. He tried to focus on breathing. In, out. It didn't help. He splayed his fingers and locked his elbows.

 _Fuck_. 

“James, love, which one are you in? Ah, here we are.” Teddy’s footsteps slowed and then stopped. “Al says you’re sick. Probably a flu after all, or you could have had a reaction to the potion I gave you earlier, the one… with the…” Teddy’s voice dropped off. He inhaled distractedly, then cleared his throat. “Um. Sorry. Anyway.” His fingers peeked over the top of the stall as he grasped it, tall enough to peer over the top if he wanted to. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

James opened his mouth. Then shut it again uselessly. 

He had no idea how to explain this. Not even to Teddy, the person with whom he had shared the majority of his most embarrassing secrets and ailments, and who was also in the somewhat singular position of being able to sympathise, or at least understand what was happening. But still, what would he say? _“So you know how I’m a beta? I’m not. How do I know this? Don’t ask questions Ted, just get in here and fuck me ’til I can think straight again and I’ll fill you in on the details later.”_

Teddy’s proximity really wasn’t helping matters, either, or James’s cognitive faculties. His body seemed to have honed in on the fact that what it desperately wanted had entered the room and was standing on the other side of the door, radiating concern and smelling of whisky and spring and sex. Just the sight of Teddy’s fingers, long and slim and curled over the top of the door, made James’s insides clench again. His dick throbbed and he tasted blood as he bit his lip to keep from whimpering. The sight of Teddy’s bloody _fingernails_ was turning him on. 

Teddy made a quizzical sound. “Lost your voice, huh?” He cleared his throat, then laughed self-deprecatingly. “Hey James? Merlin, this is gonna sound weird, but something smells really fucking great in here. Like, maybe it’s your cologne… Are you wearing a new one or something?” He whistled through his teeth. “Or maybe I’m just drunker than I thought.” He laughed again, soft and warm, slightly bemused. 

James stifled a groan at the sound of Teddy’s voice deepening, at his scent spiralling around him. He marvelled that he was able, somehow, to get more aroused—to get even harder, _wetter_. Especially at the thought of Teddy being even slightly affected by this too. 

None of which was helping him explain to Teddy what ‘this’ was. 

And it suddenly occurred to James that he might not have to. Teddy could sympathise with this, as James’d earlier realised, because he was also a werewolf. He was the same as James—well, mostly. If James was picking up on Teddy like a beacon, then what kind of signals was Teddy going to be able to pick up from him? The way he currently felt, it couldn't be anything subtler than a red light flashing in invitation over the door.

And from the way Teddy sounded, it was working. 

“James, sweetheart, are you alright? It’s just, normally I can't get you to shut up, and I’m a bit worried you’ve passed out,” Teddy said lightly, concern edging his voice. “So, I’m gonna come in now and check on you, ok? Just make a noise if you don’t want me to do that.” 

James held his breath and didn't make a sound, suddenly anxious. Teddy opened the door with a soft spell and stepped in. And then froze. 

“James, what… in the name of...” 

The gentle smile slid off his face, one side then the next. His eyes, wide as saucers, took James in from his tense position against the wall—his flushed, fevered cheeks, dilated, glassy eyes, and the sizeable bulge tenting his trousers. Teddy’s mouth worked uselessly. He seemed to be struggling to catch up with what his instincts and body and big, Healer brain were telling him was happening. He frowned and looked at James, then snapped his mouth shut, blinking rapidly, still seemingly unable to form a coherent sentence. James would have found it funny, in fact, everything about this would have been hilarious, if his insides weren’t trying to crawl out of him and if he was able to feel anything beyond _hot_ and _ouch_ and _fuck me, **now**!_

“James, what… What are you… What?” Teddy babbled. 

“Hey, Ted,” James croaked. He was aiming for casual, but missed it by about a mile, landing instead somewhere in between ‘pathetic’ and ‘randy’. “I’m…” He shook his head, then tried again. “This is exactly what it looks like.” 

He waved a hand at himself, then pulled his legs up and dropped his head onto one knee, work done. Teddy was smart, he could figure this one out. James was exhausted, and horny, and ill—and suddenly on the verge of bursting into tears, as though acknowledging out loud what was going on had been the final straw. He was ready to check out and let Teddy deal with this one from here, selfish as it was. 

Teddy squatted down next to him, still looking at him with those stupid, wide, incredulous eyes. 

“Exactly what it looks like...” Teddy repeated dumbly, putting his hand tentatively on the back of James’s overheated neck. He brushed wet tendrils of hair aside. Goosebumps prickled down James’s back and he shivered. 

“Are you… James. It looks like you’re in heat,” Teddy finished in a hushed tone, dumbfounded.

James tensed. He was suddenly hit by the weight of what was happening, what it might mean for them—what if Teddy wasn’t ok with this, was revolted, didn’t want him anymore? Teddy sounded shocked, gobsmacked; he’d said _in heat_ the way he would have said _spontaneously sprouting horns_.

James was aware that he was being irrational, that Teddy was probably not going to jump ship just because James had added another little element onto the roster of weird werewolf shit they had to deal with, but still. He choked out a noise and was horrified when it sounded suspiciously like a sob. Apparently, he now had no control over how he reacted to anything. He snivelled angrily, wiping at his face. 

“Oh hey, shh.” Teddy rubbed softly, reassuringly, at James’s nape. “I’m sorry, it’s fine. In heat is fine. You’re ok.”

James made another small sound and Teddy moved to sit opposite him, bracketing James with his stupidly long legs. The stall was barely big enough for both of them. 

“You just took me by surprise with this one, that’s all, Jamie.” He smiled kindly and rubbed at James’s shoulder. “Bet it took you by an even bigger one though, huh?” Teddy said softly, almost to himself.

He smoothed a crease out of James’s shirt and James sighed into it, flinching when Teddy touched his scar. Teddy moved his hand away. 

“That hurts?” Teddy said sympathetically. He paused for a moment, then shook his head as if to clear it, fingers moving back to James’s neck. “Ok, do you want me to get your dad? Or your mum?” 

James clutched at Teddy’s sleeve and shook his head. He could honestly think of nothing worse right now—well perhaps Albus coming back with the camera, but it was a close second. His mum would fret, and his dad would fret more, and it would be total chaos. 

Teddy hummed, his voice soft, calm. “Yeah, maybe not a great idea. St Mungo’s, then?”

James scrunched his eyes shut and emphatically shook his head again, digging his fingers into Teddy’s arm just in case he wasn’t clear. He did not want to go to hospital. He hated it there at the best of times, and right now—

“Ok, _ow_. Ok. No St Mungo’s.” Teddy made another sympathetic sound, rubbing in soothing circles around the soft skin at James’s hairline. “That’s fine, I can take care of you. We can handle this. Probably,” Teddy added with a soft laugh. “No, we’ll be fine.” 

Teddy smiled comfortingly and James nodded again, grinding his forehead into the bumps of his own knee. He rubbed his face against his trousers, wiping away tears in an attempt to regain a bit of dignity. He sighed gratefully when Teddy didn’t mention it, as Teddy rubbed over a ridge of his spine, then back up into his hair. The contact felt like a balm to the aching, horrible feeling inside him. The heat seemed somewhat sated by each soft press of Teddy’s fingers against the sweat-tacky, overheated skin of his neck. He heard Teddy mutter a soft cleaning spell, presumably taking care of the mess of his sleeve, and he felt minutely better for it. 

But it didn’t last long. James felt his skin prickle, his stomach contract and his dick twitch. It felt deeper, louder, even more insistent somehow. He whimpered again, clenching his thighs and biting at his own knee to keep from crying out—or climbing into Teddy’s lap. 

“Oh, wow.” Teddy’s hand clenched involuntarily in his hair. He brushed his lips against James’s temple, breathing in deeply—scenting him—and stifling a groan. 

“That is... How do you smell this good?” His voice sounded somewhere between concern and empathy, and being right on board with the James-in-his-lap thing. He breathed out again harshly. 

“Ok, come on. Up we go.” Teddy stood, then put his hands under James’s armpits, lifting him like he weighed nothing. Like he wasn’t over six foot of dead-weight, nauseous, turned-on and terrified twenty one year old. 

“Let’s get you out of here,” he muttered into James’s hair. 

James swayed slightly as Teddy looped his right arm around his shoulder and thankfully, finally, Apparated them away.

***

Teddy’s place was small and somehow both sparsely furnished yet absolutely cluttered with _stuff_ —books, scrolls, obscure medical journals—at the same time. James spent more time here than he did at his own place, although that had technically started well before they’d begun sleeping together. James liked being in Teddy’s space, wherever that might be, and Teddy—well his door had always been open for James. His past girlfriends had just had to deal with the fact that Teddy came with a grumpy godbrother perpetually on his couch. Luckily for James, there weren’t any more girlfriends to deal with.

They landed with a soft thud on the carpet of his living room, narrowly avoiding the small wooden table. 

“Woah, there.” Teddy righted James as he stumbled, his head swimming from the sudden change of locations and, well, the sudden change of biology too, he guessed. He suppressed a manic laugh at the thought and buried his face into Teddy’s neck. He breathed him in deeply through his open mouth, hands digging into his hips as he pressed himself against Teddy as hard as he could. The contact was incredible. His head felt like it was filling with sand, as he rubbed his face against Teddy’s throat and mouthed up his jaw. Teddy’s breath hitched and he swallowed. 

“Ok, James, sweetheart, we should _mmmff_ ,” Teddy tried to speak as James kissed him, licking against his mouth and sighing from his scalp to his toes as he did so. He felt a flush running up his spine, burning in time with his pulse, and he couldn’t understand how Teddy could feel so good, smell so good, and yet wouldn’t stop talking. 

He kissed him harder and for a few blissful seconds Teddy responded, then broke away again. Teddy pushed him back gently. 

“Wait a minute, James, we should really, _oh fuck_ , think about—”

James growled and dropped to his knees, mouthing at Teddy’s crotch. 

“Holy _shit, James_!” Teddy stumbled backwards, but James pulled him back via his belt. Teddy grabbed James’s shoulders for balance, then stared at the ceiling incredulously, shaking his head.

He swallowed audibly, as James sucked at the soft material of his trousers and moaned like a two-knut whore. Teddy’s fingers tightened, pulling against the over sensitised skin of his scar, and James almost shouted it felt so good. He frantically scrabbled at the fly of Teddy’s trousers. 

“Oh hell, sorry, did I hurt—Woah, James, hang on, _stop_!”

Teddy pulled him back up, holding his hands against his chest and breathing fast. James pushed against him, blinking hard. 

“No, no, no, James. Just wait, ok?” Teddy kissed him softly, chastely on the lips, pulling back and shaking his head when James tried to deepen the kiss. He did it again and James groaned in frustration. _Fucking tease_. 

“Listen. We need to be smart about this.” Teddy breathed in deeply through his nose, trying and failing to stop James from latching on to his neck. 

“Smart about what?” James mouthed groggily into the soft skin of his throat, licking up his Adam’s apple. He was pretty sure this was the smartest thing he’d ever done, he decided, as he ground down against the hot, hard ridge of Teddy’s cock through his trousers. 

“Oh, fuck,” Teddy groaned helplessly and James did it again, because _yes, Teddy_ that was the general idea. He knew, faintly, that Teddy was probably trying to say something important. That he should be at least nominally using his upstairs brain. But his faculties seemed to be happily blinking out, like snuffed lights, in the overwhelming onslaught of Teddy’s scent and shape and _Merlin_. He wanted this now. Fuck waiting. 

James grabbed Teddy’s zip and pulled, got his shirt untucked and his hands on hot, perfect skin, before Teddy gripped his wrists like a vice and pulled them away. 

“James, stop! Fuck, it’s like talking to a brick wall. A really bloody...” Teddy pushed James back again, “ _Handsy_ brick wall”. 

James whined, but Teddy set his jaw and held him at arm’s length, visibly trying to keep control of himself. 

“James.” He opened his eyes and looked at James hotly. He spoke very slowly. “If you are in heat, then—” 

“Then we don’t need lube. And we don’t need to prep. And we don’t need to talk about it anymore do we, we can just do it _now_ , can’t we?” 

He knew he sounded breathless and desperate, and in some distant part of himself he was embarrassed as hell. But it seemed that shame, like all of his other emotions, were being thrown out the window and replaced with just _want_ and by the overwhelming desire—no, the need—for Teddy to fuck him now. He brought his hands up and sucked at the fingers Teddy had clamped around his wrist, pulled one into his mouth. He ran his tongue around the knuckle, his pulse so loud he could barely hear over it. 

“Please, Teddy?” He whispered, voice so low he hardly recognised it as his own. He watched Teddy’s eyes darken, his mouth part and his grip loosen. “Please, fuck me.”

“ _James._ ”

“I need you to fuck me, Teddy,” James rasped, inching closer into Teddy’s slackening grip. 

Teddy dropped his head back and bit his lip, his breathing loud in the otherwise silent room. Sensing he had the upper ground, James started undoing Teddy’s shirt buttons, slowly popping them open one by one. He wanted to rip it off, get his hands on Teddy and grip him by the ribs. Sink his fingers in and not let go. But he could be patient, if it got him what he wanted. 

He got a hand inside Teddy’s shirt, ran his fingertips along the hair at Teddy’s navel. “It’ll be good. So good,” He whispered as he trailed a hand up along his belly. He moved his fingers through the trail of soft hair, down to the hem of his trousers, before Teddy managed to think again and stop his hand. James whimpered again in frustration. 

“Please,” he ground out. “I need you to….” His voice cracked. “Make me feel better, Teddy.” He rubbed his hot face against Teddy’s cheek, stubble rasping on stubble. 

“I know, I’m sorry.” Teddy kissed him again, deeply. James leant into it. “I will, Jamie, I will. But, just listen. If you’re in some kind of heat, which you _definitely_ are, then...” Teddy swallowed, his voice wavering. “Then you’re gonna be fertile.” 

He stared at James waiting a response from him at that bombshell. A response that… did not come. James nodded, but the words meant nothing to him. He gave up on Teddy’s shirt and focused on trying to remove his own. 

“There’s… There’s spells and stuff… for protection,” Teddy continued as James peeled his own sweaty shirt off and dropped it on the floor, toeing his shoes off as he did and then moving to his jeans. Teddy shook his head. “But I don’t know any that will work on you.” 

He stared at James helplessly, scrubbing a hand over his face. James dropped his clothes in a pile on the ground, then nodded again and reached for Teddy, thrilled when he didn’t put up a fight this time. James’s lack of reaction to the issue of fertility seemed to have knocked the fight out of him, but then again Teddy’d always been somewhat lost for words when James showed a bit of skin. Either way, James’s animal brain was counting it as a win. 

“Right. Ok,” Teddy muttered to himself, breathing hard. “Ok, we’re just... gonna have to sort this out later then, yeah? James?” 

James was nodding and squirming. Watching Teddy’s mouth, the pink flick of his tongue as he licked his lips, and not hearing a damn word. Teddy took in his glazed eyes and wet, parted mouth and groaned. 

“You’re not hearing me at all are you? Oh, _shit_.” His voice hitched as James pulled his shirt open, finally undone, and latched onto a nipple. He looked up at Teddy, swirling his tongue around the soft nub, and then bit down. 

And Teddy cracked. James saw it, the moment his resolve left him and the madness seemed to fully seep into him, like James had managed to finally lick it into his skin. He grinned. 

Teddy snarled. He pulled James up by the hair and crushed their mouths together, hot and dirty and hard, steering them towards his bedroom.

***

James pushed his face into the pillow he was currently sprawled face down on, one arm curled up underneath it. He blinked like a lazy house cat and tried to remember where he was.

And why he was naked. 

He blinked again, hair in his eyes. Bed. He was in a bed. He snuffled into the pillow. He was in _Teddy’s_ bed. Well, that was nice. But wasn’t he meant to be somewhere? He mumbled unintelligibly and yawned again, cracking his jaw. His brain felt like it was only slowly coming back on after a month’s hibernation, like he was working at half capacity.

James rolled over onto his back, wincing slightly at the twinge in his arse and again at the spike of pain coming from his left shoulder. That was weird. He wasn’t really sore though; he was tired and filthy, like he’d just run a mile, but his body felt amazing. He stretched his legs out, curling his toes and then uncurling them again happily, and became aware of a low, distracting ache in the pit of his stomach. He frowned as he felt a flush crawl up his thighs, stomach, prickling onto his chest. Like he had a fever, like… James groaned and flung an arm across his face as the reality of his current predicament came rushing back over him. _Oh, bloody fucking hell_.

“Welcome back, sunshine.”

James peeled his arm off his face and turned to look at Teddy, standing in the middle of the room and pulling a pair of jeans on. 

“You were out like a light there. Solid fifteen minutes I think.” Teddy grinned and zipped up. “I’ll take it as a compliment.”

James frowned, then rubbed at his eyes. He suddenly sat up with alarm. “Teddy, fuck, I am so sorry about before—”

“Hey, woah, calm down,” Teddy knelt on the bed and pressed him back down. “It’s fine, James. You couldn’t help ravishing me. Who could?” He smiled cheekily and drew a lazy circle with the fingers resting against James’s chest. “Honestly, no harm done. You feeling any better?” he asked. James settled back down into the pillows reluctantly. 

“About seventeen different kinds of crap still.” He shrugged and picked at the blanket. “But less, um... Y’know.” He waggled a hand in what he hoped Teddy could interpret as _less terrifyingly horny_. “Um. Less _that_ than before, I guess.” He looked at Teddy apologetically, still reeling from the realisation that he’d practically molested him in the living room. He made a face and opened his mouth to apologize again, when Teddy cut him off. 

“Good.” He smiled fondly at James. “I’m glad I could help a bit. ‘Cause the heat will flare up soon enough, you know, and you’ll want to fuck again. Well, we will, I should say. Which is what I assume you meant by _this_.” He waved a hand between them, wiggling his fingers in an imitation of James's earlier gesture, and raised an eyebrow. James laughed softly, embarrassed, and Teddy smiled back at him lopsidedly, a dimple appearing in his left cheek. He kissed James on his, then stood again. 

“So,” Teddy said, looking for the rest of his clothes. “Best make the most of this reprieve and get some rest now, okay?” 

James nodded, pulling the blanket around him. He lay back for a moment, staring at Teddy as he dressed—at his back, his broad shoulders, the curve of his spine—until it sunk in that Teddy was getting dressed. And that meant he was going out. 

“Wait, where are you off to?” James asked, frowning. “It must be nearly two am, Ted...”

“Ah, well.” Teddy looked at his feet. “I just need to pop out for something. For um. Well.” He didn’t finish. James stared harder. 

Teddy located a clean enough T-shirt and cleared his throat. “Well, I mean the good news is...” He licked his lips. “I mean, you’re _probably_ not pregnant. But, um…”

James groaned so loudly, it sounded like a growl and slammed the pillow over his head. Well, that ‘reprieve’ didn’t last long. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” 

Teddy scratched his chin. “Sorry,” he sighed. “I did sort of… try to mention it. Earlier. But you were preoccupied—and that’s fine!” He finished quickly, holding a hand up at the sight of James’s wide eye peeking out from under the pillow. “It’s fine, really. I can get something from work and be back in about a half hour.”

James wrenched the pillow off his face and threw it across the room, where it landed with a completely unsatisfying _omp_. Teddy was right; he had tried to mention it, James vaguely recalled. He also remembered he’d been trying to climb Teddy like a tree at the time. 

“Fuck!” James took a shaky breath and tried to let it out again, but it got stuck in his chest. He’d managed to completely forget about that whole fertility part of this. “Fucking fuck!”

“Yeah.” Teddy winced, his voice resigned. “If we’re gonna keep doing _that_ , then we need some kind of contraceptive. And something to counteract anything that, uh, could have happened just then.” Teddy pulled his shirt over his head. “Which are both things I never thought I would be saying to you,” he laughed, voice muffled slightly by the material.

“But it’s fine. Really,” he repeated at James’s very unamused look. “Seriously, Marg is Medical Potions Supervisor on nights and she loves me. And she loves you even more. I may have told her about you,” Teddy clarified when James raised his eyebrows. “Night shifts are boring. We talk.” He shrugged, blushing and looking away slightly. “Anyway, I’ll just... give her the basics, beg shamelessly, and she’ll be able to give us something for however long this takes. Twenty-four hours, I expect.” He pulled on a worn, brown leather jacket, fanning his hair over the collar. “It might be a bit of a shock to your system though, on top of everything else.”

“Of course it might,” James deadpanned. “This is fucking ridiculous, Teddy.” 

“I know, but it’s also totally normal. We just weren’t prepared.”

James snorted derisively and rubbed at his eyes, feeling the low pain in his abdomen start to build again. The bed dipped next to him as Teddy sat down to pull on his boots. Laces tied, he leant over James, who sighed and stared up at him. His hair tickled James’s face and James blew it away, then swatted at it when it came right back. Teddy chuckled and tucked it behind an ear. 

“You really are taking this all incredibly well, Jamie.” Teddy pushed James’s own messy, ruined hair back and James searched his face for any sign of sarcasm. 

“I’m taking this with the same amount of poise and grace I apply to all things werewolf related, Ted,” James mumbled. “Which is not very much.”

“Which is actually a considerable amount,” Teddy corrected. “Despite what you might think.” He rubbed his nose against James’s temple, breathed in deeply and made a soft noise. 

“Merlin, you are so fucking irresistible right now, Jamie.” 

James leaned up into it, feeling his pulse tick faster, his dick twitch against his thigh. He shifted against the sheets as he felt that infuriating, horrible, _wonderful_ , wet feeling again start up again. Teddy rested his forehead against James’s for a moment, then forced himself to pull back. He slapped his palms on his thighs and stood, shaking his head. 

“Nope. I need to leave.” He gave James a heated look. “You just... rest. Stay here. Don’t move a muscle, ok?”

James rolled his eyes, (where was he going to go in this state?) but he couldn't stop the flush that ran up his body at the way Teddy was looking at him. Like he wanted to eat him alive. James bit his lip and rolled his hips slightly, so Teddy could see the shape of his hardening dick under the thin sheet. 

Teddy groaned, taking a step towards him, then back again. 

“No, fuck. I need to leave right now.” He scrubbed a hand over his mouth, then waved in frustration over his shoulder as he pulled open the door. James listened to his footfalls recede as he galloped down the stairs to the Floo. 

He grinned for a moment, then sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration himself. He lay there, perfectly still, then kicked his legs out petulantly. While it had been fun teasing Teddy, he was seriously regretting it. He was turned on again and he could feel the heat getting set to boil over. And now he was stuck here, half-way to hard and leaking, and surrounded by Teddy’s fucking amazing scent—but no Teddy. 

He groaned and itched at the inside of his elbow. He grabbed Teddy’s pillow from the other side of the bed, as his own was currently lying on the floor, and tried to punch it into shape. Pillow safely pummelled into submission, he curled up sulkily on one side in a nest of blankets. He tried to ignore the tingling feeling crawling up his scar and the lurch in his insides, and to get some much needed rest. 

***

Twenty-seven minutes later, Teddy managed to get one foot in the bedroom door before James was on him, a clingy pile of needy limbs and restless arousal once more. He’d heard the Floo rush to life, then quiet again, Teddy’s voice calling out that he’d been successful but owed Marg for life (and in potentially terrifying ways), as he bounded up the stairs two at a time to where James was waiting. 

James had managed to doze briefly after Teddy had left, but had woken up to the heat clawing its way back up his spine, up his scar, his dick hard and arse aching to be filled. He’d tried to ignore it, but it built even faster this time and he could feel it from his scalp to his toes. He felt different, again; no nausea now, but still plenty of pain. He was hotter than ever, like their earlier sex hadn’t so much sated the fire inside him as thrown gasoline on it. He was _burning_. 

“So the red one… mmmf!” Teddy tried to speak around James’s insistent kisses, shucking his jacket and toeing off his boots. He tried again. 

“Ah, ok, the red potion is a, _mmm_ , contraceptive and the blue one is… _uuuh_ ” Teddy’s breath hitched as James latched onto his neck and sucked hard, grinding himself against Teddy’s jeans-clad thigh, leaving damp trails on the denim. He hadn’t bothered to get dressed, too exhausted and then too aroused, chasing Teddy’s scent amongst the bedsheets, fingering himself open as he tried to soothe some of the burning need inside him. 

“Right.” Teddy pressed the bottles at him, breathing heavily. “Drink these. Now.” He said forcefully, eyes hard, and James’s dick twitched at the tone. He downed both potions with a grimace, dropping the bottles on the floor and wiping his mouth on the back of his arm. They tasted faintly of liquorice and raspberries.

Teddy watched him drink with hooded eyes, then nodded slightly. “Ok. Good boy.” James shivered and moved back into Teddy’s space. 

Teddy stood very still, but his eyes were dark and his cheeks flushed. His hair had turned such a dark blue it was almost black and James could feel Teddy’s cock filling out against his thigh as he ground against him again. He rucked Teddy’s shirt up, biting his earlobe, until Teddy made a low noise and grabbed him by the back of the neck, pulling him in and kissing him hard. 

Their teeth clacked together as James didn’t so much kiss back as try to keep up; whatever self-control Teddy had been clinging to before didn't seem to be holding up so well this time around. He kissed his way down James’s jaw, then licked back into his mouth, open and wet. James fumbled with the zip on his jeans, desperate for skin and contact. He wasn’t really sure what was going to happen now that neither of them seemed to be present at the helm, but he couldn’t really focus enough to care. Not when Teddy was mindlessly kneading at the meat of his arse, pulling the cheeks apart and back together again.

He felt like he wanted to unzip Teddy’s skin and crawl inside, or pull Teddy inside _him_ and keep him there. He felt _crazy_. It overwhelmed him and he broke away to pant against Teddy’s shoulder, trying to control himself, but it was impossible. He gasped, as another pulse of wet trickled down the back of his thigh. He felt rather than heard Teddy’s responding groan as he pushed two fingers up and inside him.

“Ohh, _fuck_.” James grabbed Teddy’s wrist and forced them deeper inside him, knees going weak as he clawed at Teddy’s arm with his other hand. 

“Merlin, James, you feel so good.”

James shuddered as he moved Teddy’s fingers in and out. Teddy kissed him again, then bit his lip, pulled it gently between his teeth. Let it go and pulled it back between his lips. Teddy was right, it was good, it was so good. Merlin, it was _perfect_.

But still it wasn’t enough, wasn’t what he needed. The ache in his stomach, in his head, pooling in his spine, was bordering on painful again. He felt like he was going to burst. 

“Teddy, I need you to—” he gasped, “I need...”

“Shh, I know, I got you.”

Teddy kissed him again. He pulled his fingers free with a quiet, wet sound, then grabbed James’s hips and pulled them flush, walking them backwards until James’s calves hit the bed. “I got you.” 

Teddy pushed him down and James folded. He scooted backwards on his elbows ’til he reached the head of the bed, watching Teddy remove the rest of his clothes. Teddy climbed up over him.

Then stopped. 

James stared up at him. Every muscle in Teddy’s body was tense, his hands fisted in the sheet on either side of James’s ribs. His eyes were glassy and wild, gone from the lightest hazel to almost pure black, his cheeks ruddy and his cock hard and hanging heavy between his legs.

James suddenly, idiotically, thought he’d never seen anything more beautiful. He felt his chest momentarily constrict with it, the rush of unexpected emotion overriding the arousal coursing within him. He caught Teddy’s mouth in an almost tender kiss, ran his knuckles over the scant hair on Teddy’s chest. He felt like he was in the eye of a storm. He brushed the hair back from Teddy’s face, shifting his hips slightly. 

Just as quickly as it came, the moment of calm twisted away as the movement brushed their cocks together. Teddy jolted as if burned. 

He crushed his mouth against James’s, pulling one leg around his waist and hooking the other over his shoulder. He fisted a hand in James’s hair, pulling his head back as he mouthed along his collarbone, his teeth scraping along the join of his neck. He reached the knobbled scar tissue and hesitated, flicking his gaze up to James. He moved back in, his breath hot and damp as he mouthed along the pink scar. 

James made a strangled sound in the back of his throat, trembling with how good it felt, how overwhelming it was. He couldn't seem to get his lungs to work, get enough air inside them. He couldn’t _breathe_. 

“Make noise, James,” Teddy growled in a voice James barely recognised, but which went straight to his dick. 

“You’ll feel better. Trust me. Don’t hold it in. Scream if you need to.” He licked along the scar again, grazed his teeth against it, and James arched his spine and howled. 

“Fuck. _Fuck_!” James keened and pushed his hips up insistently, Teddy’s hands firm and strong on his sides, on his hips. “Teddy, please.” He pushed up again, dragging his dick against the hot, hard length of Teddy’s own and they both groaned. He bit at Teddy’s neck. “Want you to fuck me, fill, _uhh_ , fill me up, make me yours…”

Teddy made a broken sound against his sternum and dug his fingers into James’s arse, moving to his cleft. He groaned again, rubbing his fingers roughly over the puckered hole. James was shaking.

“Merlin,” Teddy breathed out heavily. “You are so fucking wet. Ready, sweetheart?”

James dug his fingers into Teddy’s waist in answer, pulling him closer. Teddy kissed him as he lifted James’s hips up slightly, grabbing a pillow and moving it underneath him. Breathing hard, he smeared some of the slick from his fingers onto himself, biting the inside of his cheek as he lined up with one hand. He pushed in, slowly but hard and firm and better than anything James had ever felt in his life. James’s body tensed, his lungs struggling to work. 

Teddy moved, slowly, out and then in again.

“Breathe, James. Keep breathing for me, love.”

James stuttered out a high gasp as Teddy snapped his hips forward. 

“That’s it. Good boy, you're doing so, _ahh_ , so well.” Teddy rolled his hips. “Can I, uhh, faster..?”

James nodded. He gulped in a breath, then felt the air punch out of his lungs, again and again as Teddy gratefully picked up the pace. He scrabbled at Teddy’s shoulders, trying to get some leverage, pull him closer, anything. He couldn't hold still, hands sliding in sweat as he tried to find purchase.

Teddy grabbed his wrists, pressing them against the mattress, and James keened. He felt caged, Teddy surrounding him, holding him down and fucking him, and _this_ was what he needed. He pressed his shoulders into the bed and arched his neck, unable to do more than lie there as his leg slipped down from Teddy’s shoulder to the crook of his sweaty elbow, the bones of his wrists grinding in Teddy’s grip.

He could hear the gasping sounds he was making, but he could no more keep them in than he could control the way his hips were moving up to meet Teddy’s, forcing him deeper inside him. It was good, it was so good, and his cock leaked as Teddy changed the angle and began to hit his prostate on every thrust. The pleasure suddenly felt like it was too much, like it was going to take him over. 

And still, somehow, it wasn’t enough. He needed more… _something_. His body was thrumming with a feeling like _emptiness_ , but it made no sense. Teddy was inside him, deep and right. He writhed and strained as Teddy fucked the air right out of him. The room filled with heavy wet sounds, the slap of skin on skin, the thump of the headboard against the wall, James’s choked breathing and Teddy’s soft groans and _why wasn’t this enough?_

He struggled against Teddy’s unmoveable hands, digging his heel into the small of Teddy’s back until he finally wrenched free and grabbed him by the hair. James rolled his hips, using the leverage to pull himself onto Teddy’s dick, forcing him deeper and harder inside him. That was better. He set the pace, mouth open against Teddy’s, stealing his air, swallowing the sounds he made. Too far gone to coordinate a kiss.

Slowly, he became aware that he was pushing against a weight at his entrance. The jolt of pleasure that ran through him along with realisation was almost more than he could bear. The knot pressed against him with each hard thrust of Teddy’s hips and he blinked the sweat out of his eyes, gasping at the ceiling. _That_ , the four-legged part of his brain whispered. _I want **that**_.

He pushed harder. 

“Ahh, James, fuck!”

The noise that it ripped out of Teddy sounded more animal than human; his hips stuttered forward and he slipped onto his elbows. James didn’t care; everything centred around that pressure, around the knot forming at the base of Teddy’s cock, driving him _insane_ it felt so good. And how much he needed that inside him. 

James whimpered in frustration and Teddy sat back on his heels, pulling James onto his lap. James dug his fingers into Teddy’s shoulders, mouth open and eyes scrunched shut as he rolled his hips, rising up and then pushing down as hard as he could. The base of Teddy’s dick pressed hard and hot against him, almost inside him, the stretch almost painful, almost fucking _there_.

“James…” Teddy sounded wrecked, his voice thick and deep, as he scraped his teeth over the muscle of James’s neck. 

“I want… Oh Merlin, I don’t… I wanna be _inside_ you,” he babbled nonsensically. He grabbed James’s hips, thrusting up to meet him, his mouth a hot brand on his neck. James hissed through his teeth as he nodded mindlessly, thighs straining as he rose again.

“Do it.” He tightened one hand in Teddy’s hair. “Do it, I want you to do it,” he moaned, not sure what he was urging Teddy to do and at the same time, somehow, entirely certain.

He arched his spine, baring his throat, and finally forced the base of Teddy’s swollen cock inside him. 

James blinked, mouth open as his nails scored marks into Teddy’s shoulders. He could feel Teddy shaking under him, as his hips juddered back and forth. 

“ _Ahh_ , James. That feels so, _so_...”

James held still. He felt the knot swelling inside him, filling him, and his mouth worked but no sound came out. His chest shuddered violently as his legs gave out and he dropped his weight entirely onto Teddy’s straining forearms. 

“It’s ok, love. Ke—keep breathing,” Teddy panted desperately. His hips rolled shallowly, the knot stretching James wide as it pulled at his rim. “Y—You're ok.” 

James couldn’t tell whether Teddy was talking to him, or trying to reassure himself. Teddy never lost control like this. He looked like he was losing his mind; like whatever was happening to James had crawled right inside of Teddy too, settling in his spine and kicking out all coherent thought. Everything but instinct. 

James sucked in another gulping breath as Teddy mouthed his neck. He ran his teeth along the taut muscle softly, then again, harder, seemingly unaware of what he was doing. 

Teddy moved again, once, twice, three times his arms a vice around James’s back, tongue hot and rough against the muscle of his throat. James gasped, his mouth set in a silent scream. It was too much. It was perfect. It was _too much_. James felt every muscle in his body pull taut like a rubber band and then, _snap_ , as Teddy sucked at the skin, growling softly, and then sank his teeth into his neck. His vision blurred as he came, untouched, cock rubbing against Teddy’s firm stomach, painting them both in thick white stripes.

James sagged in Teddy’s arms, feeling his dick pulse inside him as Teddy sucked on the area he’d bitten, hips rolling maddeningly, uncontrollably. James struggled to breath, choking down air, before blacking out for the second time in as many hours.

***

James came to, sticky and breathless and skin sweat-tacky. Teddy lay on top of him, one hand under James’s head and the other under his back. James felt like a rag doll; like a marionette with cut strings.

He felt fantastic.

He was shivering lightly, trembling almost. Or maybe that was Teddy. There were several large red scratches on Teddy’s shoulder and James gently traced around them with his finger (yep, definitely Teddy shivering). James felt slightly bad, but mostly he felt really good. 

He made a mental note to applaud Teddy for managing to lower them carefully, and not just collapsing like James apparently had, as he moved under Teddy’s weight. Teddy’s breath puffed against his shoulder, his hair in James’s mouth. James reached up and brushed it away, tilting his head to the side. He shifted slightly, then stopped. He was pleasantly surprised to feel Teddy was still inside him, buried deep, the knot stretching him wide. He was even more surprised to find it wasn’t uncomfortable. It should have hurt, but it made him feel… safe, somehow. It was strange, but nice. He rubbed the back of Teddy’s arm. 

“Hey,” he whispered. Teddy grunted softly, breathing like a racehorse and sounding like he was as out of it as James had been. His hips twitched slightly as he stirred against him, nuzzling blindly into James’s neck.

“You still with me, Ted? Or are you complimenting _my_ prowess this time, huh?” James licked his lips. “Although that was pretty spectacular.” He couldn't recall ever having sex that intense before. He couldn't honestly remember anything being that intense before. 

“Shhh. Shut up, you. S’my turn to pass out. Speaking of which,” Teddy mumbled groggily. “That’s twice you've _swooned_ now. You're welcome.”

James banged his knee softly against Teddy’s sweaty ribs.

“Didn’t swoon. M’not a girl, Ted.”

“Men can swoon,” Teddy chuckled, voice heavy and sated. He lifted himself slightly, nuzzling against James’s throat, and then licked a rough tongue against the tender spot he’d bitten. It made James’s shoulders twitch slightly and he hissed, in pain or pleasure he couldn’t quite tell. He was ok with either, really. 

But Teddy wasn’t, it seemed. 

“What—” He blinked fully awake, frowning as he pushed himself up onto his elbows on spaghetti arms. He looked at James’s smiling face, and then down to his throat. 

“Oh my God, I hurt you! James, I _bit_ you,” he stated incredulously. “I bit your… your... Ohh.” 

Teddy let his breath out softly as he stared at the deep mauve bruise budding on James’s neck, realisation in his eyes. James rubbed absently at the spot.

“What, that bad, is it?” He asked. It didn’t hurt, not really, but he could sort of feel a tightness there. Mostly he felt loose and numb and relaxed, in a way he hadn’t since this had started. That clawing, needy feeling that had been bubbling under the surface of his skin seemed to be ebbing away and he felt a happiness at that fact, which was bordering on hysteria. He was relieved to feel slightly normal again, even if it was a cuddly, high sort of normal. 

“We’ll just heal it, yeah?” He tried again when Teddy kept staring, his hair a riot around him. “Ted? You’re kind of freaking me out.” He joked, hitting Teddy gently again with his knee. 

Teddy finally met James’s eyes, tearing his own away from the bite mark, his expression intense and almost guilty. James frowned and rubbed soothingly at his side. 

“It doesn’t even hurt,” he tried to reassure, idiot smile in place on his face. “Here, let me…” He moved his legs again, trying to dislodge Teddy so he could comfortably figure out what the hell was up with him—and was perplexed at the twinge of discomfort in his arse. He moved again and this time Teddy winced, then grabbed his leg and held it still, keeping it wrapped low around his waist. His face was apologetic. 

“Sorry, we’ll have to wait a bit. Until it goes down.” He looked between them and James followed his line of sight.

“Goes down…” James repeated, lost. “Wait, you mean… Are you still hard?” 

Teddy sighed, dropping his head. He mumbled something. “Huh?” James jostled him ’til he repeated himself. 

“It’s the knot,” Teddy murmured. “We have to wait until it goes— _uhh_ ” His voice hitched on a cut off groan, and he flushed and looked away. 

James’s eyebrows disappeared into his hair at the decidedly _familiar_ sensation he felt.

“Wait, are you still _coming_?!” He blurted incredulously.

“Something like that,” Teddy growled. James could just make out the tips of Teddy’s ears turning pink through his hair, which had softened out to a light brown with streaks of cobalt-blue. He huffed a surprised laugh, then wrapped an arm around Teddy’s tense shoulders as he shivered and eventually stilled. James kissed his temple, then the tip of his ear, then anything he could reach without jarring them too much.

“You ok?” He asked softly, and Teddy grunted weakly in affirmation, sagging against James. His hips moved once or twice more, then stilled. “How long will this last then?” James ran a hand down Teddy’s tense back. 

“I don’t really know. I _should_ know, but I’ve never…” Teddy made a face. “An hour, maybe less.” Teddy sighed, scratching his forehead against the bone of James’s shoulder. “I’ll try and keep you comfortable.”

“I don’t think I mind.” James traced lazy circles into Teddy’s shoulder blades, fitting his fingers along the bumps of his spine. He suspected the roof could fall on him right now and he might not mind.

“Yeah, well. Let’s see about that later, huh?” Teddy said wryly. “When your legs are cramping and you need to use the loo.”

James laughed. Then marvelled at the almost euphoria which seemed to be meandering through his system. He ran his fingers through Teddy’s tangled hair, pulling at a particularly bad tangle. He tried to unravel it with his fingers, then gave up, struggling to disentangle his hand. People thought the Potters had messy hair - that was nothing compared to Edward Lupin and his ability to change the colour and length of his hair with a thought, but complete disinclination to keep it anything resembling neat. James loved it. He kissed the top of Teddy’s hair, then felt embarrassed at the soppy display. Then figured, _fuck it_ , and did it again. 

Teddy smiled up at him, warmly. Then he made an unhappy sound and buried his face in James’s neck again. James frowned. 

“I really don’t mind, Ted. Is that why you’re being all funny about my neck?” He murmured softly and stroked Teddy’s shoulder when he groaned again slightly. “‘Cos you didn’t hurt me. And I’m _definitely_ not uncomfortable. It kind of feels great, actually.” 

He stretched his neck out and wiggled again, feeling the weight of the knot inside him. It felt even bigger than when Teddy was fucking him, somehow. And that, at least, was number one off his bucket list, he thought, suppressing a manic giggle. He suspected if he started laughing now he wouldn't be able to stop. He was in heat, and Teddy’s dick was stuck inside him, and everything was insane. He suppressed the hysterical feeling and moved his hips again, focussing on how nice it felt instead. 

“James,” Teddy growled warningly. “It’s not gonna go down if you keep doing _that_.” Teddy stilled him, warm hands firm at his hips. “Lie still or we’re gonna be stuck like this for my birthday too.”

“Mmm,” James sighed happily and nestled down into the blankets. “I feel kind of high, really.” He went on, smiling at the ceiling. He craned his face down to peer at Teddy. “Hey, d’you reckon that has something to do with the whole knotting thing?” He grinned. “Or maybe you’ve actually finally succeeded in fucking my brain out.”

Teddy, momentarily relaxed by their conversation and resting against James’s chest, stiffened.

“Um. Yes and no.” He took a deep breath and lifted himself onto his elbows again, wincing slightly at the movement. He cleared his throat. “It’s because of the knot. And also... the other thing.”

“Other thing?” James frowned, feeling thick and like his head was full of honey. It was lovely. “What else have you got down there?” He joked, peering down, ’til Teddy tilted his face back up with two fingers.

Teddy looked at him, eyes serious, a gentle frown between his brows. “That’s probably the bond, I expect.”

“Bond?” James screwed his face up. “What bond, what does that mean?” Whatever it was, it was really making him slow on the uptake because he had no idea what Teddy was on about. “Have I missed something?”

Teddy flicked his eyes pointedly to the bite mark on his neck, and then back again, his expression patient and slightly rueful. “The _bond_ , James.”

The penny finally dropped. Then rattled around in James’s addled brain and exploded. 

“ _Ohhhhhh_ ,” James breathed out. 

A heat meant mating, he knew that much. And mating involved knotting, which—he wiggled his hips, felt Teddy dig his fingers in again on a choked off sound—yep, that bit was present and accounted for. And knotting during a heat meant… _bonding_. 

James ran back through the short list of things he knew about bonding—which took him all of four seconds, because he really knew astoundingly little. They were permanent, he thought he remembered reading. He was drawing a lot of blanks on the rest, but he knew this definitely hadn’t been on the list of things to do this weekend. Get a bit drunk, yes. Have mind blowingly loud sex with Teddy and further sour his relationship with the neighbours—of course. Go into heat, lose his mind, and accidentally bond during said sex, moving their four month relationship ahead about ten years? Not so much. 

James blinked at the ceiling and slapped his teenage self once again for leaving him high and dry and choosing the policy of hiding under the bed rather than read a _single damn thing_ he’d been given on this topic. And then he mentally crawled under the bed too. Old habits died hard. He forced himself back in the room. 

James swallowed thickly, as Teddy sighed and looked away, rubbing his face against James’s cheek again. He was beginning to suspect Teddy was feeling a bit addled from this too, although it was hard to tell; Teddy was always extremely physically affectionate, doubly so in bed. Still, he wasn’t usually inclined to nuzzle James like this. Whatever the reason, James was finding it wonderfully comforting. 

“So,” he managed. “You just knotted me,” James stated blankly. “And the... the bite, is that an... alpha thing?” Teddy nodded, leaning up onto one hand as he brushed his hair off his face. “And it makes a bond. Between us. Like a s… a soul bond?” James finished uncertainly, the word a strange shape in his mouth. Teddy’s face fell even further.

“I’m sorry James, I—I shouldn’t have.” He gestured at James’s neck. “That’s what would have done it. Combined with the heat, the knot. I _knew_ that, objectively, but it’s like my brain switched off and…” He clenched his jaw, then looked away again. “I’m not one hundred percent clear on what it involves, but I don’t think it’s… it shouldn’t change that much.” Teddy shifted on his elbows. “It’ll change some stuff though. Merlin, I was supposed to be looking after you, James, not—”

James wrapped an arm around Teddy’s shoulder and pulled him back down before he could start apologising again. He suppressed a wave of anxiety that washed over him at the word _change_ , and instead nestled Teddy’s face back into the crook of his neck. 

“Hey, don’t worry, it’s not... It’s not that bad. We’ll sort it out,” he finished tepidly. “Plus I’m... pretty certain I told you to do it. So. Share the blame, huh?” 

“Come on, James. You had no idea what you were saying though, did you?”

James shrugged and Teddy peered up at him, trying to read his expression. 

“James, are you… ok, with this?”

James stalled. He was actually at a bit of a loss as to how he did in fact feel about it. He felt floaty, and warm, and safe. He felt like the way he’d acted earlier was now making a little more sense—baring his neck, pushing himself onto Teddy’s knot like his life depended on it. _Urging_ him to bite him. He might not have known what he was doing, but he also couldn’t deny that he must have been, on some animal level, absolutely aware. 

Above all that, though, he felt like he might possibly _not_ be ok with this when he was himself again. A bond sounded rather… life-changing, and a bit permanent, and like something he might need to think about when the endorphins wore off. James wasn't a big fan of life-changing and permanent; he got his fill of that at sixteen. But Teddy currently looked like the only thing stopping him from throwing himself off the roof was the fact that they were physically stuck together, and James really wasn’t having that.

“Um.” He shrugged again, and smiled dopily. “We can talk about it later, ok? I’m not really very sensible right now.” He rubbed his eyes. “Like, really not sensible. I feel… like that time I accidentally drank a full bottle of concentrated Cheering Solution instead of just the thimbleful. I'm all numb and floaty. And stupid. It makes no sense at all,” James said softly, wonderingly. 

Teddy laughed, a low rumble. He smiled at James, then squinted as he thought. “I guess it sort of does make sense. I mean you're stuck here with a small Quaffle lodged up your arse. I think the sudden case of warm and fuzzies is meant to stop you from panicking too much and… I don’t know. Hurting yourself. Or me, actually,” Teddy made a face. 

“I guess so.” James petted his hair and grinned at the ceiling, feeling entirely disconnected from everything. “What about you, then? You don’t seem that affected.” He asked. Teddy shrugged, snorting a laugh. 

“Because I need to protect you from predators or wandering into oncoming traffic, I guess. I don’t know, I’m no expert at this. My field is Magical Trauma and Emergency Response. We don’t see a lot of this.” He rubbed his nose against James’s neck again. “I mean I do… I can sort of feel something. Just doesn’t feel that different to how I normally feel, I guess.” He swallowed and looked away. “Well. Except for the giant, inconvenient erection.”

James smiled softly, happily. “No, that’s usually there, Ted.” Teddy pinched his side, gently, and James smiled harder, feeling even giddier somehow. He wanted to laugh again. Teddy regarded him seriously. 

“I’ll look up what the bond involves as soon as I can, James,” He said earnestly. “And you should definitely sleep while I do that. I think the heat will end now. I think this is… I think this will end it.” Teddy shook his head slightly. “I can't believe any of this is happening. I was _not_ prepared for this. I shouldn’t have…” He broke off and tried to smile. It didn’t really work. “Still, I guess it's not that bad. I mean, with the whole Quaffle and arse marriage bit. Least it’s me you’re stuck with, right? Better than some stranger,” he joked, but it didn’t so much land as teeter on its heels, then crash to the ground with a soft, echoing thud.

James widened his eyes, trying to keep his face very blank. Teddy dropped his own back onto James’s chest. 

“Fuck. James. On a scale of one to ten, how horrified by all of this are you right now?” Teddy asked his armpit. 

James squeaked in reply. His face was starting to go red.

“James?” 

James tried to answer. He really did. But whatever they’d just done (knotted, bonded, married genitals, Merlin knows what else) was making him feel as high as a kite and the accumulation of the night’s madness was finally getting the better of him. He bit the inside of his cheek and screwed his face up, but to no avail—silent giggles shook his shoulders and then burst out of him in an unattractive snort and a gust of near hysterical laughter.

Teddy looked up at him in confusion, but James couldn't catch his breath enough to explain. He snorted again loudly, sides hurting. Teddy shook his head. 

“Ok, so not horrified. Just insane...”

“S—s-sorry, T-Ted,” James choked out, vibrating with laughter. “G-gimme a min—a min— _oh fuck_.”

“Oh no, take your time, Jamie. You’re being very supportive and mature, I appreciate the sensitive way you’re handling this,” Teddy deadpanned, the corners of his mouth twitching up into a bemused smile. 

James laughed harder. He was shaking the bed. 

He wrapped his arms around Teddy’s shoulders and waited for the laughter to subside, but it wouldn’t. It rolled out of him uncontrollably. The movement jostled Teddy inside him, the knot still swollen and deep, and that just made him laugh _more_. Teddy determinedly tipped them both onto their sides. 

“Hold still, you lunatic,” he mumbled, rearranging their limbs into something more manageable given the awkward angle, unsure about where to put James’s right leg. Satisfied, he summoned his wand and cast a cleaning charm to get rid off the mess James had made of their stomachs. 

“Merlin. Maybe I _have_ fucked your brain out,” Teddy groused, but with little bite behind it. 

James hiccupped one last laugh. Teddy watched him, frowning gently. 

“S-sorry,” James stuttered. “It’s all just… a bit much.”

“No fucking kidding,” Teddy said blandly. James laughed again softly, once, which turned into a huge yawn.

“Alright, kid. Go to sleep now,” Teddy grumbled. 

“Bossy,” James murmured sleepily, grinning. “This another alpha thing?” James let himself be pulled back against Teddy, who wrapped him up in his arms, laughing softly. 

“Sure, whatever. Now go the fuck to sleep and don’t make me pull rank again.” He kissed James softly, the angle evening out the slight height difference between them. “We can talk in the morning.”

James hummed, allowing himself to feel how tired he was. He blinked slowly, limbs cement heavy. He drifted off to sleep, wondering vaguely how this would all feel in the light of day. 

And not entirely looking forward to it.

***

The light of day, as it turned out, saw James waking up no longer in heat, incredibly sore and moody as hell.

He felt like he’d wrestled a Quidditch team, and not in a sexy way, and then been sat on by a herd of hippogriffs, in a similarly un-sexy way. It was akin to the aftermath of a transformation, except much more localised to his abdomen and left side. And transforming had never brought with it the worry that his relationship was irreparably changed. 

He felt like shit. 

Teddy was in his kitchen, presumably buried under a pile of parchments almost as big as the awkward, tense silence building between them. He’d been up when James had woken, having apparently raided a medical library as soon as he could. James had pretended to be asleep when Teddy had brought him tea earlier, whispered in his ear that he could come down and talk to him when he was ready. James had buried his face in the pillows until he heard Teddy leave, slid into the shower instead, tail between his legs like the sullen teenager he suddenly found he had turned back into. Surprise werewolf events had a tendency of doing that to him. 

He wasn’t proud of it, and he knew he would have to face the music sooner or later, but he was dreading it. Which was why he was still in the shower forty minutes later, having a staring competition with the painted tiles, when Teddy came to find him. 

“James… You alive in there, love?”

James fiddled with the hot water tap, then ducked his head under the stream of the shower in lieu of reply. The water plastered his hair to his forehead and he turned his face from side to side, letting it fill his ears and spill out again. Teddy knocked softly at the door again. 

“I don’t think you can actually drown in the shower, James, but you’ve been in there a while and it’s been a weird sort of weekend, so…” Teddy’s voice trailed off. “If you could give me some kind of reply, that would be nice.” 

Teddy waited a beat, then softly drummed his fingers against the wood. “Maybe just knock the shampoo over? Or throw the soap at the wall?” Another beat, another soft drum of his fingers. “Any small affirmation of life would do at this point, really.” 

Teddy’s voice sounded muffled, like he was resting his head against the door. James rested his own face against the cold porcelain tiles, let the angle direct the water over the scar down his shoulder and left side. It was sore still, tender, but more a dull ache now. Nothing like it had been when he was in heat, before they’d bon—

His stomach lurched dangerously and he shut that thought down with a resounding mental _slam_.

“James?”

Teddy’s voice was light, but James knew underneath it he was genuinely worried. James managing to get himself sucked down the plughole of Teddy’s dingy shower wouldn’t really be that surprising at this stage. James ran a toe around the plughole contemplatively. He puffed his cheeks out, then let the air out again. He picked the shampoo bottle up, wondering if he was actually enough of a toddler to knock it over instead of talking to Teddy. He very much suspected he was. 

He dropped it anyway when the shower curtain twitched and he jumped. 

“Boo.” Teddy smiled, peeking around the atrociously floral plastic.

“Circe’s cunt, Ted!” James exclaimed. He frowned at Teddy, pointedly picking up the bottle and putting it back in place, as though he hadn’t just been contemplating hurling it at the wall as a form of communication. 

“Hurrah, he speaks. And so beautifully, too.” Teddy made a subdued, celebratory sound, and rubbed at one eye. He looked terrible. They both hadn’t gotten much sleep. Teddy had been right; turns out trying to sleep arse to hip was really, terrifically uncomfortable after a while. 

“I didn’t even hear the door open!” James glared at Teddy. The effect was somewhat lost under his sopping fringe, but he hoped Teddy appreciated the effort. 

“Yeah, well.” Teddy pushed the curtain completely aside and leant against the shower frame. “You went mute. Drastic measures were required. Especially considering your current track record with bathrooms.” Teddy stared at him, one eyebrow raised. Misty water from the shower was settling on his hair, the heat from the steam making his cheeks faintly pink. It made him look impossibly handsome. James looked away and sighed. 

“I was just... thinking,” he said, avoiding Teddy’s eyes. Teddy nodded. 

“Thinking sounds smart,” he said quietly. 

They both knew what James was thinking about—the rather impressively large elephant in the room which started with _b_ and ended with _ond_. Sans post-knot high, James was feeling... Well, that was the thing. He still couldn’t really figure out how he felt about having bonded to Teddy, or about anything that had happened last night. He’d never thought about it before—he’d never had to. This wasn’t something which had been on the cards for them, or in his foreseeable future, just like going into heat hadn’t been. Hell, they’d only been dating for four months. James had entertained the possibility that he might not renew the lease on his own flat in a few months and instead move in with Teddy, as he practically lived here anyway. But that was just a thought; he hadn’t brought it up. That was as far into their future as he’d looked ahead. He loved Teddy, even if he had trouble saying it out loud. But Merlin, they hadn’t even told his family yet. Now, well… He didn’t know what would happen, now. 

It wasn’t that the idea of being bonded to Teddy wasn’t... nice. Truth be told, it made him feel a bit giddy, if he ignored all the rest and just focussed on that. As far as relationships went, this was the best he'd ever had. Granted, it was the only serious one he'd ever had, but whatever. A good thing was a good thing. He’d adored Teddy his whole life. Then, the last year or so, it had slowly morphed into fancying him, in an abstract that’ll-never-happen kind of way which had then somehow managed to happen, while sharing a bottle of gin and a blanket. Teddy later admitted he’d been keeping an eye out for a green light from James for some time. Since then, he had vague plans to be around in Teddy’s life in one form or another until forcibly ejected. Possibly even then. Knowing that the bond had essentially made that an inevitability, and without asking—that bothered him. It made him feel… cheated, somehow. Like the natural progression of their relationship had been sped forward and knocked sideways by the explosion of his heat and their reactions to it. Just another thing his body had done which he couldn’t control; a birthday present from the wolf that, like always, came with teeth. It was going to change things between them. Wasn’t it? 

And as far as he knew, Teddy wasn’t exactly thrilled either. He’d been pretty mortified it had happened and was desperately researching it by the look of the stack of scrolls James had glimpsed. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all. James knew that Teddy burying his head in research was a clear indication he was panicking and trying to regain control of something he had no control over. For all he knew, Teddy wanted out even more than he did. James felt horrified and paralysed by that idea. 

He knew he could just ask Teddy, but he didn’t want to. Then he’d have to hear the answer. He didn’t want to deal with any of it. He was angry, underneath his confusion, but not really sure at who or what, beyond the familiar resentment he felt at having to live with this infuriating condition. It was far too much for him to make sense of; he was sore, he was exhausted, he was—

His stomach growled loudly, interrupting the tense mood which had built between them. He was _starving_. It growled again. Teddy’s lip quirked. 

“Hungry?”

James swallowed then nodded. 

“I thought you might be.” Teddy licked his lips and leant closer. “There’s food downstairs. If you’re ready to come out.” 

James made a thoughtful face and Teddy tilted his head to the side. “Do you want to eat in the shower, then?”

James gave him an unimpressed look. 

“Do you want me to fuck off and stop badgering you, instead?” Teddy brushed the back of his knuckles tentatively along James’s arm. He did it again when James didn’t move away. 

James turned slightly into the caress. “Are you capable of doing that?” 

“Probably not.” 

James hummed, as Teddy traced the bump of his shoulder, down his spine and back up again. He smiled at James lopsidedly, droplets of water settling on the faint hair of his bare forearms, leaving little damp spots on his t-shirt. 

James smiled back, despite himself. This was all… reassuringly normal. This didn’t feel so different. Aside from him taking refuge in the shower and the bags under Teddy’s eyes—aside from the way he was touching James with kid gloves, like he might bolt any minute—this wasn’t so different from a regular Saturday. James tentatively grasped the hope this brought him with slippery fingers. He turned and kissed Teddy’s hand, grazed his knuckles with his lips. Teddy sighed, eyes soft. A tension left his shoulders which James hadn’t realised was there.

“Look, James, I—” he stopped, then leant in, pushing the wet hair off James’s forehead. 

And himself completely under the shower spray. 

“Hey, look out!” James tried to push him back. “You’re _in_ the shower, Teddy!” He said incredulously. 

“I know.” Teddy waited a moment, then pulled James to him in a rough hug, strong and firm. And fully dressed in the shower. 

James struggled against him in protest, then gave in. He rested his head on Teddy’s shoulder, as the spray beat down on them. It was comforting in a way he hadn’t realized he’d needed, another island of normal in an ocean of abnormal. Even if Teddy was still wearing shoes. 

“What are you doing, Teddy?” James mumbled after a minute. 

“Hugging you.” 

“In the shower?”

“Yep.”

“In your jeans?”

“Yep.”

James laughed softly. “You’re ruining your clothes.” 

Teddy tightened his arms. “I don’t mind.”

“That’s your favourite shirt, Ted.” 

Teddy grimaced and shut one eye. He took a deep breath. 

“I know. This is killing me,” he admitted. “But I was trying to be romantic and make a grand gesture—” James cut him off with a laugh, gently pushing him back out. 

“Get out of here, Ted. I’ll be down in a minute, alright?” James waited a beat, then said quietly, “Gesture noted.” He avoided Teddy’s eyes, felt himself blushing. “I’ll have coffee I think. Strong.”

Teddy beamed. He shook the water out of his hair like a wet dog as he stomped out the room. James heard the kettle begin to whistle as he turned the shower off.

***

James stumbled into the lounge, ten minutes later, wet hair curling around his neck. He was wearing Teddy’s black dressing down and an old oversized t-shirt which used to be Teddy’s dad’s. It had _Born to be Wild_ printed on the front in peeling red letters, which seemed relatively tasteless considering, but James thought Teddy might find it funny. The black material was so faded it was almost grey, darkened in patches from James’s dripping hair.

It was the ugliest thing either of them owned, but it seemed to make Teddy happy to see him in it, because Teddy was not so secretly a sentimental idiot. James was too, but he was much better at hiding it, which probably explained why he hadn’t been able to bring himself to heal the large, purpling mark on his neck. He’d stared at it in the steamy bathroom mirror for a while, poking it and enjoying the twinge of pain, and then decided he was keeping it. Well, for a bit, at least.

Teddy was perched on the couch, shoeless and changed and dry, his chin resting on his knee as he read. He looked up at James as he padded barefoot over to him.

“Don’t say it. I know I look terrible,” James grumbled. Teddy looked like he wanted to argue, but instead he moved the couple of parchments off the couch and motioned James to sit. James winced slightly as he did. Teddy frowned.

“You’re sore. Here, let me—” Teddy reached for his wand, but James stilled him. He didn’t want to be fretted over.

“I’m fine. I’m hungry,” he said firmly. “And this looks amazing.” His eyes widened as he took in the overflowing spread of food laid on the little coffee table.

“Fucking hell, Ted, did you cook everything you own? Actually, no, I have never seen your fridge this full. Did you go shopping?” James stared in awe. He considered making a joke about Teddy secretly being a Weasley, but his mouth was watering so much at the smell of bacon, scrambled eggs, pastries, and a giant pile of fruit that he didn’t say it for fear he would just drool instead. “You didn’t have to do all this.”

Teddy smiled at him, cheeks pinking slightly. He waved the parchment in his hand.

“Kind of did, actually. Says it’s very important you replenish nutrients, get your strength back. So tuck in.” Teddy moved a mug of coffee in front of James, who began piling as much of everything as he could onto a plate.

“Thanks. This is heaven," James sighed gratefully, shovelling eggs into his mouth in what must be a very unappealing way, and gulping down coffee. Teddy watched him fondly anyway, helping himself to a more controlled portion.

“I figured you’d be hungry. Apparently that’s normal, but you were also pretty ill last night.”

James nodded, struggling to talk through his mouthful of bacon. “I don’ really g’t why it hurt s’much.” He swallowed. “Or why I puked so much.” He frowned at Teddy.

Teddy lifted a shoulder in a short shrug, pulling the crust off his toast. “It’s a big shock to your system. Kind of like a transformation, only it’s all internal. You’re not normally able to conceive a child, are you, James?” he asked.

James rolled his eyes, then pretended to think. “Hmm, let me see. Dick, balls, no uterus—no, Teddy, I am not.” He went back to eating. Teddy smiled as he buttered his mangled toast.

“So, something pretty big must have changed to enable that, mustn’t it?” Teddy settled against the couch. “Something big, and something sudden. Your body adjusted pretty amazingly well, all things considered, but it’s still a massive change. And it was your first one.” Teddy watched him eat as he went on. “The change back was less dramatic. You barely even woke up.”

“You were awake?” James asked. He had no memory of the heat ending at all.

“Yeah, you... I wanted to make sure you were alright. Plus, I couldn’t sleep much.” Teddy shifted awkwardly in his seat and changed the subject before James could ask him more.

“Your mum Flooed earlier, by the way. To see if you were better.” James eyes blinked wide. Shit, his family. He’d forgotten about them. He’d disappeared in the middle of his party without a word—they must be frantic! Teddy smiled.

“Don’t worry, apparently Albus told everyone you had food poisoning. I told her you were less green, but still relatively putrid and not up to visitors, so you're off the hook there for a bit. Although she did make a few pointed comments about why you were at my place. I think that cat might be out of the bag.” He flicked a look at James, who shrugged and smiled. He couldn't really find it in himself to mind; he felt almost relieved.

“They won’t believe the food poisoning part for long, but it buys you some time,” Teddy went on. He took a deep breath. “And it’s better than what your brother could have told them, apparently. Because he also sent you this."

Teddy dropped a small card onto the edge of James’s plate and motioned towards a large basket on the floor beside him. It was full of inedible looking fruit, chocolates and... condoms. Really big ones. Great, James sighed. So Al figured that one out on his own. Apparently he _had_ read the literature James had ignored. He read the card.

" _Dearest Jemima. You are a nightmare to be related to. Stop being gross soon.  
Strong like, Albus._

_P.S. Name the baby after me."_

"Hilarious, Al," he said dryly, but with a slight smile. He liked the idea of being able to joke about this with his brother; nothing ever bothered Albus, and it generally made most things easier to deal with. Still, thank fuck Al had kept that to himself. And how the hell was he this good at figuring things out? James was seriously going to have to see if his brother was a Legilimens or something, because it was kind of terrifying.

He flicked the card across the room with his thumb and forefinger and pushed the basket away with his foot. He turned and regarded Teddy for a moment. This was as good an opening as any, and they were going to need to talk about this sooner or later. James sucked in his breath and bit the bullet—along with half of his croissant.

“So. Um. Do you know…” James cringed. He was awful at this. “I mean, what is this gonna involve? The bond, that is,” he clarified, chewing and staring intently at the butter dish instead of Teddy. “Are we... What happens now?”

Teddy sat back, his head at an angle. “Mmm. Well, I did a bit of reading last night. And there are two answers to that.” He wiped his buttery hands on his sweatpants, then picked up an apple and began cutting it into wedges.

“And?” James prompted. “What does it change?”

“Well.” Teddy licked some juice off his thumb and kept cutting. “Not much, it seems. The idea is that the bond is created when two mature werewolves mate. With the aim being to produce a child. It’s to ensure that the two parties keep at it until they, y’know. Make little baby werewolves. So, next time you go into heat, you come running to me.” Teddy tapped his knife on his plate as he looked off thoughtfully. “And it can’t be created without... some kind of compatibility between the two. Pre-existing or not, that needs to be there.”

He paused to gauge James’s reaction. James, having finished his eggs and bacon and several pastries, was now nervously working his way through a punnet of strawberries and hanging on Teddy’s every word. He nodded for him to go on. “So, we’re compatible.”

“Yeah. That’s why it happened, I guess. Well, I mean, I made it happen but that's why it was an...option. Because we like each other. We’re compatible.”

“Pretty sure I was involved in making it happen too, Ted,” James said around a slice of apple he’d taken from Teddy’s plate. Teddy made a face but seemed to concede the point. James was starting to feel better. So far, this was all much less horrible than he’d expected. The full belly was helping, if he was honest.

Teddy licked his knife, tongue curling around the blade, and then set it down. “So the bit you really want to know is, what does it change, right?”

James nodded and held his breath. He didn’t want to know, but he needed to hear it all the same. Head in the sand hadn’t really worked out that well for him, so far as these things were concerned.

“Well, the answer is, pretty much nothing.”

James stared in shock as Teddy spread his hands, palms up. “From what I’ve dug up so far it seems—and I’ll double check later to be sure, when I take you to hospital. Which you have to go to, James,” he said, firmly interrupting James’s protests. “Tomorrow, maybe, not right now but you do need to go. Seriously, don’t make me say the P word. You are almost certainly in the clear, but you’ve gotta get checked out.” James made a sour face, then motioned Teddy to continue. Teddy squeezed James’s knee, then went on.

“Anyway, it seems that the only major changes are to do with sex. Which, firstly, would be somewhat more intense between us during the, um... During any other heats. It would affect both parties more.” He shook his head slightly. “I can’t really imagine it getting more intense than last night, but there we go. There’s that to look forward to. And then on the other hand, sleeping with other people will be... unpleasant now.”

“Unpleasant? Like painful?” James asked, setting his plate on the ground.

“Unpalatable, I guess. Not something you’ll enjoy doing.”

James stared. “Right. Well there goes Wednesday night’s orgy down the pub. And you’re gonna have to break dear old Marg’s heart.” James frowned. “So, wait, we’ll both go crazy if I go into heat again, which we did a pretty good job of anyway, and other than that we… are monogamous.” He stared expectantly. “Wait, that’s _it_?”

“Pretty much, yeah. Like I said, I’ll check again, and we should both go to St Mungo's to see the specialists, but… that seems to be the deal.”

“That can’t be it, that’s… nothing.”

Teddy shrugged. “Well, I mean we’re already dating, so it’s not a big deal to us. I imagine if we weren’t, then it might be a bit more inconvenient.” He looked at James evenly. “Werewolves don’t necessarily need to be a couple to be compatible. And often they are seeing other non-werewolf people, so… that might be a bit of a relationship killer.” Teddy looked like there was more he wanted to say, but was waiting for James to ask.

“Oh, right. That does sound shitty.” James sighed, then shut one eye and rubbed at it. He felt tired again, but there was something he needed to ask.

“And, um. It’s permanent right? Like once you make it, you… you can’t break it, can you.” He pointedly avoided saying ‘we’. His voice sounded small and pathetic enough already.

Teddy leaned forward until his head was inches from James’s. He tilted James’s face up with his hand and very slowly shook his head. James held his breath, feeling his throat close up.

“You absolutely can break it.”

James stared back, incredulous again. “What?” He said, wondering if he’d misheard. Teddy smiled.

“You can break it like a twig. Apparently a lot of wizard and witch werewolves weren’t really pleased about being stuck for life with a heat-induced one night stand, so...” Teddy’s smile grew wider. “They got inventive with ways to undo it.”

“Really?” James managed around the lump in his throat.

“Mmmhmm. I don’t know enough about it right now, but it is definitely an option. If you want to.”

“Oh.”

James let out his breath, relaxing against the couch. This was not how he had expected this conversation to go at all. In his mind, there had been more arguing and panicking and less… chatting calmly and happily and eating strawberries. He popped another one in his mouth, not really hungry anymore but still nervous. He pulled his legs up onto the cushions and wrapped the dressing gown around himself. One last question, and he could begin happily repressing all of this like he did with most complicated emotional situations.

“Um. And.” He licked his lips anxiously. “Do... Do you want to?”

Teddy regarded him carefully.

“Honestly? Not really. I haven’t been interested in anyone else for a while now. Which I think you know.” He butted his forehead against James’s. “But I don’t want you to make a decision based on what I want. It’s about what _you_ want. And I can’t really imagine you would want this.” Teddy smiled faintly. “I mean when I was your age I couldn't make a choice about what I wanted for breakfast, let alone something like this.”

“Is that why you cooked everything you possibly could this morning?” James said quietly, raising his eyebrows. “Because it’s possible you never got over that, Ted.”

Teddy laughed softly. “Shut it, that was for you. I was being _nice_.”

He punctuated this by sitting back against the couch and roughly pulling James against his side. James pretended to resist, then curled up against him, head on his shoulder and knees against his chest. “Talk about an ungrateful patient. Anyway,” Teddy went on, carding a hand into James’s almost dry hair. “What I’m saying is, you are not in any way obliged to stay bonded with me. And I say that in all sincerity. We can break it in a heartbeat, just say the word.” He looked down earnestly at James. James swallowed.

“Thanks, Teddy. That’s... Thanks,” he mumbled, his voice cracking. He felt choked up all of a sudden. It didn't sound like much, an offer to break something that seemed like it would barely affect them, but it was somehow exactly what James had wanted to hear. Teddy smiled back.

“‘Course, doesn't mean you're gonna get rid of _me_ that easy, but the bond… Well, that's nothing. We’ll be fine without that. Next heat that comes around, we’ll be so well prepared they’ll be naming a new Scout badge after us. Even if I have to read these to you myself,” Teddy said kindly, nudging a scroll with his toe. James watched it roll away, eyes suddenly watery. “So, you just let me know what you want to do with the bond, if and when you want to do it. No need to make a decision now. I’m not going anywhere.” 

James nodded, not really trusting himself to speak. He was possibly going to need to check if Teddy was a Legilimens too, as he’d somehow completely read James’s mind. Perhaps James was just that transparent. Perhaps Teddy just knew him that well. 

Teddy looked at him, then breathed in deeply and dropped his head back on the couch. He breathed out again, looking far happier and more relieved than earlier—and incredibly tired. He rubbed his eyes and James nestled against his side. They were quiet for a long moment. 

“So, what do you want to do with the rest of the day?” Teddy asked after a moment, voice soft and low. James blinked, having almost fallen back asleep. He stirred slightly. 

“This,” he mumbled. “Just this, for a bit.” Teddy hummed his approval, pulling James’s legs out and over his own lap, arranging him comfortably. James couldn't be bothered protesting. If Teddy wanted to use him as a blanket, so be it. He yawned.

“And then eat more,” he said, nuzzling into Teddy, breathing him in. Soap and shampoo and skin. James breathed out happily. “Then sleep again. Maybe have sex. But really slow, incredibly lazy sex. The kind you barely have to move to have.” James kissed Teddy’s throat, felt him nod his agreement. “Although I think you’ll be playing keeper this time,” James whispered as he wiggled against the cushions. “I'm off the field.”

Teddy rumbled a laugh. He sounded like he was falling asleep himself. “We can do that,” he murmured into James’s hair. James rubbed his face into Teddy’s neck, lulled into a contented sleep by the thrum of his heartbeat under his ear.

“We can do all of that.”

***

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are love! Come find me on [LJ ](http://shiftylinguini.livejournal.com/profile/)or [tumblr ](https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard)<3


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